It's Never Greener On the Other Side
by Ashia-Vladmere06
Summary: This is a story about Dallas Winston, but not the one we all know. This is a story about another side of Dallas Winston...the side we never see!
1. Would You Believe Me?

**It's Never Greener on the Other Side**

**Prologue**

Sometimes when reality hits you, it knocks you off your feet. For some people reality never really bothered them. For others it completely changed them. Take my friend Dallas Winston for example. Reality really messed him up. It messed him up bad. Sometimes I blame myself for the way he changed. Other times I blame his family. Especially his dad. Yeah, I really blame his dad. But every blue moon I wonder, was it anyone's fault the way things happened? And if it wasn't, could we have stopped it?

Well, we'll never know, will we?

**Chapter One: Would You Believe Me?**

I rolled over on my bed and looked at my clock. Two fifty-nine. Who in the hell was knocking on my window at two fifty-nine in the morning? I sat up in the bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I looked across the room at my window and saw someone standing outside. I sighed and got out of the bed. I walked over to the window and opened the curtains. It was my stupid boyfriend. He was bouncing around the window, blowing his breath in his hands. When he saw me looking out of the window, he pointed at the window and mouthed the words "Open the window." I barely cracked the window.

"What do you want Dallas," I asked him. He gave me a look.

"What do you think I want? Let me in, it's fucking cold out here," he said. I sighed again and opened the window all the way. Dally climbed in and walked straight to my bed and sat down. I closed the window and turned to him, with my arms folded across my chest.

"What are you doing here, Dall," I asked him. Dally stretched out on my bed and shrugged.

"I felt like getting out," he lied. I put my hands on my hips and gave him a look.

"At three o'clock in the morning?" I knew Dally was lying. Something was bothering him. He looked at me for a minute, thinking about whether or not he should tell me the truth.

"I couldn't sleep," he finally said. "Mom's yelling at Dad for coming home late again."

I uncrossed my arms and walked over to my bed. I looked down at him, at his face. He looked tired. I felt bad for giving him a hard time. I should've known it was his parents at it again. If they weren't fighting each other, they were fighting with Dally. I hated that. Dally was such a great person, but it didn't help when his parents were being assholes towards him. I smile at him and ruffled his hair.

"Scoot over," I said, climbing in the bed next to him. He put his arms around me and I put my face in his chest. He smelt nice. I closed my eyes and sunk into the bed in Dally's arms. We lay there in silence for a while. I felt Dally's soft breath blow on the top of my head.

"Ally?" Dally whispered my name.

"Hmm?"

"Do you ever think about what you'll be doing in the next five years?" I laughed softly to myself. That was a good question. Where did I see myself in the next five years? I never thought about that. I've always just thought about the here and now and nothing more.

"No," I told him.

"I have," he said, pulling me closer to him. "I want to be married with two kids. I want to have a good job so I can support my family, but I'll come home...on time..."

Dally's voice was soft and dreamy-like. I got the feeling he was talking more to himself than to me.

What if I told you that Dally was a dreamer? Would you believe me? What if I told you that Dally asked me to watch a sunset with him? What if I told you Dally used to believe in this world and that people could change for the better. What if I told you Dally could care and love just as much as the next person. What if I told you Dally loved his parents right 'til the very end...would you believe me?

When I woke up later that morning, Dally wasn't in the bed or the room. But I heard voices down the hall so I knew he was somewhere in the house talking to my grandma. I frowned and got out of bed.

My grandma and Dally were like mother and son. They got along so well, which is more that I can say for me, cause I don't get along with my grandma at all. Now don't get me wrong cause I love her to death. But she can get kind of annoying sometimes...actually all the time. Dally says she's just lonely and needs someone to talk to. I told him I didn't have time to sit and talk to my grandma. Obviously Dally did, cause they talk all the time about everything.

I went to my closet and stood in the doorway, thinking about what to wear. I finally decided on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that said, If you want some...Come get some! It was one of my favorite shirts. My grandma doesn't like it, she said it made me seem like a tomb-boy.

I opened my room door after getting dressed, and the voices of Dally and my grandma got louder.

"...and that's when she told me I needed help," Grandma was saying as I walked into the kitchen. I stood, leaning against the wall as they noticed me and fell silent.

"Well good morning to you too," I said to the both of them. Dally blushed slightly. I knew they had to have been talking about me, by the guilty look on Dally's face.

"Good morning, sweetheart," my grandma said, patting the seat next to her. "Come have some breakfast." I sat down next to her and kissed her on the cheek.

"What did I tell you about calling me sweetheart, grandma? I'm not a little girl anymore." I grabbed two pancakes and began putting eggs on top off them.

"Alesia honey why do you have to wear that horrible shirt," she said, ignoring my question and tugging at my shirt.

"I like this shirt grandma," I said, sighing. "How come you don't get on to Dally about his shirt?" Dally's shirt had a midget on it that was holding his crouch and saying, "Size doesn't matter if you know what you're doing."

"Actually I think Dally's shirt is kind of cute," my grandma said. I gave her a weird look. She continued. "That little boy is so brave not to let his size bother him."

Dally and I laughed. My grandma could be so naive sometimes. I looked at Dally. He still looked tired.

"Did you not get any sleep last night," I asked him. Dally blushed again. I knew something was wrong. Dally has never in his life blushed twice in one day...no matter what.

"I got a little bit of sleep," he said looking down at the empty plate in front of him.

"Now Dally, don't lie," my grandma said to him, then she turned to me. "He didn't get much. He said that you were having a nightmare and you were keeping him up."

I looked at Dally. He was still looking at his plate.

"How come you didn't wake me," I asked him. Dally looked at me.

"I didn't want to wake you," he said.

"Dally said you were having a dream about your parents and your sister," my grandma told me.

It was my turn to look down at my plate. I didn't even remember having a nightmare, but then again I hardly ever remember. But I knew Dally wasn't lying. No one knows about my nightmare that I have about my parents and my sister. I didn't have these nightmares very often, but when I do I never remember them. They started after my parents and older sister died in a house fire when I was twelve. I was the only one who survived that night. That's when I moved in with my grandma. At first before the nightmares started happening, I was afraid to go to sleep, for fear that if I did there would be another fire and I wouldn't be able to save my grandma. Then my grandma took me to the doctor and they put me on medication to help me sleep. And that's when I started having those nightmares

"How come you didn't tell Dally about your dreams sweetheart?" I looked at my grandma. She had no idea how hard it was to have these dreams. And then to tell someone else about it, like it was nothing?

"It's no one's business what I dream about, grandma." I said coldly. I got up from the table. I suddenly didn't feel like eating.

I stalked back to my room and slammed the door behind me. I threw myself on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I hated having those dreams, especially now that Dally knows. I wished there was some way I could forget about that night, that way the dreams wouldn't be so real. I used to tell my Grandma that I wish I could forget. But she would just laugh, give me a huge hug and tell me if I didn't remember, I would only drive myself crazy trying to remember. Which was true, of course, but at least I wouldn't have to relive it every time I had a dream.

There was a knock at the door.It was Dally, but I didn't feel like seeing him.

"Go away Dally."

"Come on, Al, let me in."

Al. My father used to call me that. My mother and everyone else would call me Ally. Mom would fuss at dad for calling me Al. "Al is a boy's nickname, Jeff. And no daughter of mine is gone walk around here with a name like Al," she would say. Dad would always argue back saying it didn't matter if Al was a boy's name, I didn't look like a boy, so he was pretty sure no one would make a mistake of thinking that.

I turned over on my side to face the wall.

"Come in," I sighed. Dally came in and sat on the bed next to me.

"I'm sorry I didn't wake you up. You kind of stopped crying when I woke up anyway, so I didn't think I had to," Dally apologized to me. I felt bad that Dally thought it was his fault. I shouldn't have gotten upset at him, he gets enough of that when he's at home.

"It's not your fault, Dall," I said. "I just didn't know I was still having those dreams, well not that I was remembering them in the first place."

"How come you didn't tell me about your dreams?"

"Don't even like having them so why would I talk about them?"

"You talk about everything else," Dally said. I wanted to slap him. But it was the truth. I did talk about everything else, especially if it bothered me. It just didn't dawn on me to tell Dally about my dreams.

"I don't know, Dall," I sighed. "I just hate to even think about that night, let alone dream about it." Dally grabbed me into a big hug and held me there.

"You still should have told me," he said and then kissed me on top of my forehead. I reached around his waist and hugged him back.

I loved Dally and everything about him. It was his father I ended up hating. He's the one that changed Dally. He's the one that turned Dally into the cold hearted person that people loved to hate.


	2. John Ray Winston

**John Ray Winston**

After school that day, Dally and I headed to his place. We always hung out there after school, so that we could watch his little sister, until his mom got home. It was fun at his place when his parents wasn't home, mainly because Dallas' family was…well how should I say this…filthy rich! I know that's kind of hard to believe, especially if you knew Dally after he became what he did, but it's true they were rich. His father worked for a big law firm and his mom was on the city council, working under the mayor. So we had plenty to do while watching Carry.

Carry was thirteen, but she acted like she was eighteen. She wasn't a slut or anything, but that girl could talk on the phone for hours. I had no idea what a thirteen year old had to talk about for that long, but she found something to talk about. She was also into fashion and had an eye for putting colors together. So she mostly stayed in her room on the phone until, she came in Dally's room and started being a brat. But I looked forward to hanging out with Darry at his place, mostly because it was a lot better than hanging out with my grandma all day.

But when we got there, we got a very unpleasant surprise. Dally's dad was home...and he was not happy. John Ray Winston, was sitting in the living room, in his chair, holding a glass of what looked like vodka. And when he drinks and he's at home early, then he's like Hurricane John, blowing through everything and everybody.

Dally hesitated before going in his house, and didn't blame him. If I was him I wouldn't have even went in. But Dally always thought that his dad would change. And what made him think that...I have no idea.

"Hey Dad," Dally said, as we came into the house.

"Where in the hell have you been all day?" John asked, without even looking up from the tv. "Your mom's not going to be home til late tonight and you have to cook."

"I've been at school, dad," Dally said, softly. John mumbled something about Dally being lazy.We stood there in the middle of the living room for a while, waiting to see if he was going to say anything else. Instead, John just ignored us and continued watching tv, so me and Dally went upstairs to his room. Dally slammed the door behind him, angrily, as I sat in his chair at his desk. Dally flung his himself on the bed.

"I swear that man makes me wish I was adopted sometimes," Dally said. I laughed.

"Adopted?"

"Yeah so that way I won't have to do anything he says," Dally reasoned.

"Uh, I think you have that choice now Dally," I said. Dally gave me a what-earth-are-you-from look.

"Yeah, so he can knock me backwards through a wall somewhere?"

"True."

We sat in silence, while a rummaged through Dally's things that were on the top of his desk. There was couple of school books, homework, tapes, and magazines that cluttered his desk. I was flipping through a magazine that talked about John's firm, when Dally suddenly sat up straight in his bed.

"Where's Carry?" He asked jumping from his bed and out the door of his room. I followed behind him. We hurried down the hall to Carry's room and Dally flung the door opened. She wasn't in there. I saw a flash of terror across Dally's face and I knew instantly what he was thinking. What did John do to Carry? She was always home after school, no matter what. She never left to go anywhere, unless she told Dally where she was going. The only time she had ever left the house without anyone knowing was the first time John had ever hit her and blackened her eye. We both turned and ran down the hall and down the stairs. I stood at the bottom of the stairs as Dally approached John.

"Where's Carry," Dally asked. "She was suppose to come here straight after school." John looked at Dally with a moment's confusion, like he had no idea who he was talking about. He was drunk. So it _was_ Vodka in his glass. I wondered how many glasses had he had, or better yet, how many bottles had he gone through? John thought for a minute.

"She went next door to Anna's house. She'll be back before dinner," he finally answered, turning back to the tv. Anna was Carry's best friend. I saw the relief relax all of Dally's muscles and my breathing had returned. (I had been holding my breath the entire time without even realizing it...until I started breathing again.)

Dally turned and walked right passed me up the stairs, I followed. Dally laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. I sat on his bed next to him.

"I just knew he had hit her again," Dally said, softly. " I could feel it with every bone in my body. And all I could think about is where she could have went and what was happening to her." I didn't say anything. Last time when Carry ran off after John had hit her, we found her wandering the streets and a blue car full of guys were following her. We knew she didn't realize the car was following her, because she was walking slowly and still crying. I don't know how long the car had been trailing her, but thankfully we got there before the guys in the car decided what they were going to do. John seemed to be upset that he had hit her, but all men are, especially if they hit their daughter. He said he wouldn't ever hit her again, and he hasn't...so far.

"I don't think he would hit her again," I lied, reassuringly. I knew John would hit her again. It was only a matter of time, but I didn't know what else to say.

"Yes he would," Dally said. "He just won't do it right now cause she's so young. Just wait til he gets older and she sneaks out for the first time, or she misses curfew, or she sneaks a guy into the house, or she leaves the house without telling anyone and doesn't come back for hours. He'll hit her and then he won't even care."

You could tell that Dally thought alot about what was going to happen when Carry grew up. He loved his sister and would kill anyone who tried to hurt her...anyone but John. But Dally didn't see what I saw in Carry. Carry was smart, tough, and she was the meanest little girl you could ever come across, when she wanted to be. Carry wasn't going to be scared of John. She was going to be a fighter and no matter what John threatened to do to her, Carry was going to stand up to him. But John was the least of Dally's worries, when it came to Carry's protection. Dally's greatest fear was the taking of Carry's innocence. I knew if anyone hurt Carry in that way, Dally would never forgive himself and his life would never be the same.

Dally and I laid in his bed and listened to some tapes for a while. Neither one of us talked. I mostly just thought about what it would be like when Dally finally got his own place. Of course, he would take Carry with him and I'd be over all the time. But it wouldn't be like this for him. He would be happy, peaceful, and he would be rid of a lot of stress...and so would I. I worried about Dally a lot. I was afraid he would one day snap and never be the same again. Guess I was right.

We listened to his tapes for about an hour and a half before Carry came home. And when she came into the house, she ran right up the stairs into Dally's room and right into his arms. She was the cutest little thing you could ever lay your eyes on. She had on a pink dress, with pink and white sandals. Her hair was in a poytail with a pink bow on top and her fingernails and toenails were painted pink. Darry put her down after a big bear hug and instantly she started talking . Me and Dally sat on the edge of his bed, watching her pace around the room talking about her entire day and how much fun today was since her teacher cancelled lessons and decided to have a pizza party and a free day instead. Then she talked about how her best friend had a fight with her other best friend and how she has to now choose between her two best friends. Now mind you, this child was only thirteen. I'm just glad she didn'thave a boyfriend at the time, cause I don't think I would have been able to handle it. It's cute when they're young, but when they get older, it gets real annoying, real fast. Finally tired of talking, Carry threw herself onto the bed between me and Dally.

"So what's for dinner," she asked.

"I don't know," Dally said. "What are you in the mood for?"

"Homemade Pizza," Carry said, excitedly. "I want to help make it too! Please can I, Dally?"

"Only if we can put sausages on it," Dally said. Carry made a face and then smiled.

"Okay!"

"Well then go down stairs and get the money from dad and we'll meet you down there." Carry jumped off the bed and ran out the room. Me and Dally continued to sit on the bed and listen to some music, waiting for Carry to come back with the money.

"You're such a good big brother," I teased Dally. He blushed.

"Oh so you _do_ blush," I said, and Dally's face turned a dark red.

"I'm not blushing," Dally said, getting up to look for his truck keys. "I turn red when it's hot."

"You're such a bad liar," I said. "You couldn't tell a lie, even if I told one for you."

"Oh really," Dally said, still searching for his keys. "Well I'll have you know that I did happen to tell my mom you weren't a lesbian. That wasn't a lie." I threw one of Dally's pillows at his face. I missed and it landed in his opened closet. He ran over to me and tackled me onto the bed. "You throw like a girl."

"I am a girl, genius," I said, wrestling him. But, of course, Dally was stronger and had me pinned face down in a heartbeat. He let me go, after many failed attempts of me trying to kick him off of me.

"Sissy," he teased. He went back to searching for his keys.

"Punk," I retorted.

"Bite me," he said as he found his keys and we left the room. I opened my mouth to smart off to Dally, but Carry's deafening scream filled the air. Without hesitation Dally and I ran down the stairs. When we got to the bottom of the stairs, Carry was lying on the floor, unconscious, and John was standing over her with a confused expression on his face. Dally ran towards John and began pushing him away from Carry screaming. I ran to Carry, picked her up and put he on the couch. I started patting her face gently and calling her name, trying to wake her up. She wouldn't move. My heart began pounding and fear swept over me. Was she dead? Tears came into my eyes, but I didn't let them fall.

"What did you do to her," Dally screamed. "What did you do?!" Dally sounded like he was crying. John just shook his head and kept looking confused. Dally came over to me and helped me wake Carry, I could see the tears rolling down his cheeks. Dally knelt down and put his face next to Carry's and whispered in her ear. Her eyes fluttered opened and she stared blankly at us. Dally's body shook as he cried in relief and my tears finally began to fall.

"Carry," Dally called softly. "Are you okay?" She didn't respond, but just kept staring. "What did he do to you sweetheart. Tell me what he did." No response. Dally kept talking to her and I just stood there not knowing what to do. I look around the room and noticed that John wasn't there anymore. I looked towards his chair, where Carry had once laid and I noticed something red on the floor. My attention was immediately turned to Carry's body. I gasped. I knelt down next to Dally.

"Dally look!" There was blood on the bottom of Carry's dress and her legs. I left Dally there and went to the kitchen to get some towels to clean up the blood. As I was wetting the towels, another scream filled the air. I ran to the living room.

"NO, NO, NO!" Dally was holding Carry in his lap rocking her back a forth, crying very hard. I didn't understand. But as I saw a drop of blood roll down Carry's leg, reality slowly set upon me. I stood there crying knowing everything was about to change.

Dally's greatest fear had finally come true.


	3. Tell Me How

**Tell Me How**

I know what you're thinking. And yes, that was the thing that begun Dally's change. But it wasn't the only thing that changed him. What happened to Carry was only the beginning. This is the part of where I start to blame myself. You see no one was there for Dally after that, not even me. But I wasn't like everyone else, not there for him just because I didn't want to be. It was because I didn't know how.

No one ever found John that day. The police searched the entire town and couldn't find him. Dally was pissed.

"That stupid coward, when I get my hand my hands on him, I swear he's going to regret everything he has ever done to me, Carry, and my mom.

We waited two hours in the hospital, before the doctors told us anything about Carry. Dally paced so much in the waiting room that the other people who were in there, left. We were alone. The silence was driving me crazy. I couldn't help but to cry when I thought about what poor Carry might have been going through. When the doctor finally did come see us, he told us that she was in a coma and didn't know when she was going to come out.

"Can we see her," Dally asked, anxiously.

"I'm afraid not," the doctor said. "We're still running some tests on her, to see what's causing the coma. I'm pretty sure it's trauma, but I want to be absolutely certain."

When the doctor left, Dally finally sat down. He put his hands in his face. I put my arm around him and placed my head on his shoulder.

"She's going to be fine, Dally," I said, not really sure if she was going to be fine myself.

"I just keep hearing her scream." Dally sounded like he was crying. "I should have known better than to send her to dad." He was blaming himself. Tears filled my eyes. I knew he was going to blame himself. He always did when something went wrong. But this time he won't get over it. I pulled Dally into my chest and stroked his head.

"Dally it is not your fault. You had no idea John would hurt her like that."

"I still should have know better than to send her down there. You know that man is capable of anything when he's drunk." I didn't know what else to say to reassure Dally, so I didn't say anything. Instead, I continued to stroke his head.

"Where is she?" Dally and I looked up to see his mom, standing in the doorway of the waiting room. Dally got up.

"She's taking some tests," he told her. He reached out to hug her but she pulled away from him with a look of digust on her face.

"What did you do to my baby girl?" Dally looked at his mom like she had just stabbed him. Tears filled his eyes.

"You think I did this," he asked. Mrs. Winston didn't reply. Dally looked pleadingly at her. "Please tell me you don't think I did this to Carry."

Mrs. Winston turned away from Dall and walked out of the door. Dally stood there in the middle of the waiting room crying, defeatedly. Anger rushed through me. How can she think something like that about him? He would never hurt Carry. I ran out of the waiting room after her. Mrs. Winston was a few steps away from the door, leaning against the wall and staring at the opposite one. She was crying silently, but I didn't care. She had no idea how much she just hurt Dally. I was about to let her know. I walked up to Mrs. Winston and stared her right in her face.

"How could you," I demanded. Mrs. Winston looked confused. "How dare you blame Dally for what your stupid ass husband did! You of all people should know that Dally would never hurt Carry! I hope you're happy, cause you just made a terrible mistake. And youre going to regret it!" Without letting her say anything else, I left her standing there to think about what I just said. I went back into the waiting room where Dally was sitting with his hands in his face, crying. I went over to him and put my arms around him.

"I can't believe she thinks I would do something like that," he said. "I would never hurt Carry like that. Never."

"I know Dally. I know," I said. "I don't think she means it Dally. She's just upset that's all. And you're the first person she saw."

I hardly believed myself, but once again I had to reassure Dally.

It was another three hours before we heard from the doctor again. Mrs. Winston had thrown a fit about seeing Carry, so the nurses called security on her and she left.

"She's still in the coma," the doctor said. "But she's finally breathing on her own, so we're hoping she will come out soon."

"Can we see her," Dally asked, hopefully.

"Yes," the doctor said. "She's down the hall in room 313." Dally practically ran down the hall. I had to jog just to keep up with him. When we got to the room, Dally hesitated before going in. I put my hand on his shoulder to let him know I was there and we both walked in together.

Rather than looking sick or hurt, Carry looked calm and peaceful, almost like she was asleep. We quietly approached her bed. Dally leaned down and put his face next to hers and whispered in her ear.

"Carry? Can you hear me?" There was no response from Carry, but Dally continued talking to her. "Carry I am so sorry. I never meant for you to get hurt. Please wake up! Please. I love you, Carry. "

Carry's face was now wet from Dally's tears. He kissed her face and stood up. I wrapped my arms around Dally and hugged him tight, but he didn't hug me back. I looked up at him and he looked angry. I moved back.

"Dally, what's wrong?" Dally quickly wiped his eyes and looked at me.

"I'm going to go find him." He said, angrily.

"Find who."

"The man that I use to call my dad," Dally said. I had forgotten all about John's disappearance.

"Dally, no. How about we go back to your house and try to get some sleep. We'll come back in the morning, when we've had some time to calm down," I suggested. Dally shook his head.

"I am not coming back here or going home until I find that monster, and kill him."

"Dally, please, don't say that. You know you don't mean that." Dally was starting to scare me. I knew that he meant exactly what he said. And given the opportunity, I knew he really would kill John.

"Don't tell me what I don't mean," Dally snapped. "You know as well as I do that he deserves nothing less than death. And I'm going to be the one to give it to him." Dally turned back to Carry.

"Dally, please just lets go home and try to get some rest." I reached out to touch his shoulder, but he snatched away from me.

"Just leave me alone, Allison," Dally said coldly. Tears filled my eyes. Dally was mad at me. He had never called me Allison before. Never. Without saying anything I left the room. Mrs. Winston was standing across the hall looking at me with surprise. I glared at her. This was all her fault.

"I hope you're happy," I said to her.

I walked home from the hospital. It was a long walk. When I got home, grandma was already asleep. I went to my room and stood in the middle of it and looked around. I felt empty, like I had just lost someone close to me. Little did I know, I had. I had lost a really good person and there was no turning back to find him.


End file.
